Hawaii must become a high-tech center

Hawaii can no longer afford to depend on tourism alone as our major source of revenues. The Asian crisis and increasing competition from other tourist destinations attest to this. While the mainland is enjoying economic prosperity, Hawaii continues to lag behind. Other diversification efforts have been unsuccessful.

Granted, it is not realistic to envision our state becoming the next Silicon Valley, but we do have the strong potential to become an important high-tech center. Our unique culture and location can serve as a link between the mainland and the Asia-Pacific area.

We already have some of the basic infrastructure and, although there is still a long way to go, with both the state and the business communities working together, we can make it a reality.

Kristine Tan

Computers help writing projects in the schools

Philip Bossert's Oct. 17 Insight article on "computers vs. books" makes a persuasive case in support of the use of technology, including computers, in the experience of learners of all ages.

While there will always be misuse of any medium utilized in the educational process, the benefits of computers far outweigh potential or perceived negative effects. When used as a tool for a purpose, like writing to communicate information and ideas, it can be invaluable.

Writing often calls for a series of corrections and revisions. The word processing application on a computer can make this arduous task relatively painless or even exciting, as new ideas can modify the initial manuscript rather effortlessly.

Examples include the case of 10- and 11-year-olds publishing class yearbooks of 250 or more pages in a month's time, a 106-page book on POGS in two weeks, and a seemingly continuous stream of publications over a two-year period, using the sophisticated PageMaker desk-top publishing application.

Art Wong

Every student needs a locker on campus

We need lockers for the heavy books of school children. It is nice to think of building and providing the keiki and tourists a new aquarium in Kakaako, but we need to have common sense and provide lockers for each child first.

Have compassion on them and provide needed lockers today. It'll keep these sons and daughters from spinal injury.

M. Okamura

Lindsey deserves thanks for igniting anger and change

We can thank Lokelani Lindsey for one thing. Her actions were so outrageous and demoralizing to the staff and students at Kamehameha Schools, that they prompted them to act to end her reign of terror and intimidation.

It's a difficult thing to watch. The actions of the trustees have made the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate trust vulnerable. Even those of us who were not able to benefit from an education at Kamehameha felt protective of this institution.

Now the only voice being raised against the removal of the trustees are the trustees themselves.

And to think that, just about a year ago, all the alumni and staff wanted to do was sit down and kukakuka with the trustees. If the trustees weren't so arrogant, it probably would have ended there.

Let's end this quickly, put the trust in receivership, establish a proper selection process, proceed with the selection of trustees who will properly administer the trust and get on with the business of educating the children of Hawaii.

Charles M. Ka`ai`ai
Kailua
(Via the Internet)

Election aftermath...

Dirtiest campaign in memory is finally over

I am so happy that the election is over. I'm sure many have the same feeling.

In more than a half century of observing campaigns, this has been the dirtiest ever -- personal character innuendos, misleading half-truths, absolute lies, destruction and stealing of opponents' signs, individual and organizational threats and many other immoral, if not illegal activities.

But the greatest transgressions of them all were the fostering of the old plantation mentality and the encouragement of racial prejudice, especially by those who publicly espouse the aloha spirit.

Times have changed. Hawaii has regressed.

Tom Shimabuku
Kailua

Forward-thinking residents have another reason to move

This past election was a slap in the face to all of us Hawaiians and part Hawaiians who grew up here in Hawaii, especially those who went away to get educated and returned to the islands to raise our families and help move Hawaii forward into the modern age.

I have put up with the prehistoric politics of the Democrats for four decades. We had the same "old boy & girl" rhetoric and nonsense this election. We don't live in the days of plantation camps and mean old lunas. We live in a world of immense change, high-speed travel, high-speed access to the Internet, as well as many other great things.

This past year has shown how out of touch we are with the rest of the nation. We have an embarrassing contingent in Washington that has never had to live in the real (private sector) world.

The same attitude of slopping up to the public feeding trough is rampant in state and city governments. It's no wonder more of us are considering leaving this place we love for a place where people can move forward even if it has to be elsewhere.

Henry Vincent III

Cayetano's re-election is depressing news

Wednesday, I awoke depressed. Talking with others, I found similar feelings of despair. Ben Cayetano's Machiavellian tactics had won the election.

While special interests, political cronies and public sector despots cheer the outcome, disheartened citizens and struggling businesses wonder where to turn next. Hawaii's hopes of reform and recovery have been dashed.

Making empty promises, offering barren visions, blaming everything except the status quo, and creating a budget "surplus" out of thin air just won't cut it. The Cayetano regime has perhaps six months to prove, not only to its citizens but to outside investors, that the state of Hawaii will reform how it conducts its business.

Failing that, I predict Hawaii will have a Y2K problem that has nothing to do with computers. It will involve the mass exodus of families, businesses and capital out of Hawaii and on to opportunities elsewhere. The shrinking tax base could cause mass layoffs in the public sector and pull Hawaii into an extended recession.

For myself, what little I can invest will go outside of Hawaii until and unless I see substantive progress. The ball's in your court, Ben. Will you disappoint us again?

Kerry A. Krenzke

Kids Voting got scant attention from media

Why all the hype with the Kids Voting? Everyone made a big deal about it, and when I waited for the results, I only saw one printout before I went to sleep (around 10 p.m.). And it was only on one television station.

I can see their points about showing kids the process of the vote, and emphasizing the importance of voicing our opinions, but do they really care? Is this what they think of our votes?

The media basically dropped the ball on the whole thing. All I got was one lousy printout, and (at most) a short bit about how us "kids" voted. They didn't even show the results of the Kids Voting issues.

Why even bother with this if nobody is going to follow through? How do we voice our opinions if nobody listens or pays attention?

Shannon Fujimoto
Grade 9 , Waipahu

Lingle's talents should be put to good use

If newly re-elected Gov. Ben Cayetano wants to do something truly remarkable, truly bold and something that will rivet him in history permanently, I suggest he seriously consider asking Linda Lingle to become a cabinet member.

Perhaps he should even consider creating a new cabinet post to fit her best assets. I suggest Linda be offered the post of Economic Development Czar.

I bet putting both of them to work for our state at the same time would be the biggest win-win of all times, and for all of us and our collective future(s).

Hey, gov, I dare ya!

Robert "Rabbett" Abbett
Kailua
(Via the Internet)

Troops had to be mustered to pull out re-election win

Humpty Ben sat on the stall,
Humpty Ben watched the economy fall,
All the union bosses and all the crony men,
Could barely put Ben back into office again.

Linda Lingle, be proud. It took Ben an army just to win, barely. The rich will always be rich, the middle class and the poor will suffer.

Kevin Yoshino
(Via the Internet)

The consequences of 'no'

Thank you for each of those 'no' votes

I want to speak to the 119,142 others who voted "no." Thank you. Thank you for sending a message of hope. It will be harder than I can imagine for some of my friends to move through meetings, stores and streets knowing that two out of every three voters they pass consider their own relationships to have greater worth and dignity, and have imposed that belief on others simply because they could.

But in those meetings, stores and streets, the third voter will be you. And if there is any comfort for them, for now it will be found in that.

Holly Henderson

Bigotry and fear won big in general election

Rather than voting to live aloha, we have voted to live with shame. A profound sorrow overwhelms me. Hawaii, what have we done? Giving the Legislature the power to change our Constitution for the purpose of discriminating against a select group?

In the wake of a "yes" campaign characterized by blatant bigotry, fear and ignorance, the temptation is to respond in an equally slanderous manner. For the wellness of my soul, I will not. But I will pray, especially for Mike Gabbard, that the demons that drive bitter hate and homophobia will let loose.

Kim Char Meredith
(Via the Internet)

Proponents' energy might have been put to better use

If the opponents of same-gender marriage were really concerned about "saving traditional marriage" (as they so vociferously proclaimed), then why didn't they use their millions of dollars and months of effort to do just that?

Traditional marriage is in the same serious state that it was prior to the elections: close to a 50-percent divorce rate, domestic violence, molested children, battered wives and severe dysfunction in the family unit.

Think of what could have been done with all that money and all that effort! I even think that they might have persuaded the gay community to help them "save" traditional marriage.

As for same-gender marriage, it will continue to be a fact. My own church, and other churches in Hawaii, will continue to celebrate the sacrament of marriage for same-gender couples. We know full well that the validity of marriage does not lie in any piece of paper or in what the state says or does.

The validity of any marriage will always lie in the commitment that the couple makes to each other. No election, no legislative body, no change to the Constitution, will ever be able to destroy that. Praise God! Same-gender marriage is alive and well in Hawaii.

The Rev. Dr. Jon Bullock

A lesson in love from a day of sign-waving

On election eve, in Wailua, I stood holding my "Protect Our Constitution, Vote No" sign alongside a number of "Save Traditional Marriage, Vote Yes" people. A 16-year-old girl on our team could not control her tears and feelings of being so despised by some of the people around her.

I explained to her that some of these other boys and girls do not know that hate is not part of Christianity and that we must set an example for them by being as loving to them as we want them to be toward us.

I pointed to John, a young man on the Save Traditional Marriage team, and explained to her that he was a good guy and that there are many others. Before we departed, I brought her over to meet John, who introduced us to his friend Chris.

Before I could say anything of what this girl was feeling, Chris announced that he and his aunt had talked earlier and said, "Now I know that I must love others as I love myself, forgiving the sinner but not the sin."

I could see the hope in the girl's eyes. I can't recall which of these righteous 16-year-olds embraced her, but both of these young men are living testimony that we are taught by our elders and, in this case, taught to love and care for one another.

Alter Nathan Bader
Lihue, Kauai
(Via the Internet)

Homosexuals deserve domestic partnership rights

Mike Gabbard, Marc Alexander and their supporters have prevailed in their anti-gay-marriage campaign, insisting every step of the way that they are not homophobic bigots. Now they have a chance to prove it by wholeheartedly supporting domestic partnership legislation that can provide gays with at least some of the rights to which they are entitled as American citizens.

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